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Version Differences

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There are two versions of The Wind Waker typically used for speedrunning: the English version and the Japanese version. Besides using two different languages, there are further differences between these two versions of the game that lend themselves to speedrunning, and determine which version of the game is preferable for different kinds of runs.

Text Speed

Of the most noticeable differences between the Japanese & English versions of the game is the difference in text speeds. Due to the use of fewer characters in most all text boxes in the Japanese version, the speed of the Japanese text is recognized as far faster than the English text (a table of comparisons between the time to "complete" common text boxes can be found below). This makes the Japanese version of the game much preferred for the majority of speedrun categories, including Any% and 100%.

Data Gathered by darkeye

Comparisons of Common Text Boxes

Scene/Text Box

Time (In Seconds)

Notes & Timing Parameters

Japanese

English

Difference

Introduction Story

222

222

0

From hitting "Start" on file to the fade-in of Outset.

Aryll Waking Up Link

93

99

6

From fade-in of Outset Island to first gaining control.

Getting Hero's Clothes

47

70

23

From weird fade-in before the cutscene to regaining control.
Note that the JPN file used for timing this used NG+ while the English did NG. It is unsure if Link's grandmother says different things depending on what clothes she hands you, so this may still need re-timing.

Getting the Telescope

26

41

15

---

Watching Helmaroc and Tetra

49

49

0

From losing control with the telescope to regaining it.

Hero's Sword Text

15

16

1

From fade-in after Orca battle to regaining control.

Tetra Falling Down + Aryll's Kidnapping + Postman Text

173

245

72

From losing control in forest to
regaining it back on the beach of Outset Island.

Hero's Shield Text

38

43

5

From fade-in to regaining control.

Setting Sail on the Pirate Ship

86

90

4

From talking to Tetra with shield to regaining control.

Niko's Introduction to the Jumping Game

54

80

26

---

Niko's Text after Completing the Jumping Game

16

24

8

---

Spoils Bag Text and Tetra's Text Afterwards

13

19

6

From opening chest to regaining control.

Tetra's Speech before FF1

120

140

20

From losing control in crow's nest to regaining control in FF.

Gossip Stone Text

14

28

14

---

Text for Getting the Hero's Sword Back

3

3

0

JPN is really about a quarter-second faster here.

Intro to Ganon and the KoRL

236

296

60

From opening door in FF to regaining control in Windfall.

Text for Freeing Tingle

53

71

18

---

Sail Text

8

10

2

---

KoRL Text when you bring him the Sail

9

16

7

---

Intro to DRI + Wind Waker Training

71

94

23

---

Learning the Wind God's Requiem

49

67

18

---

Postman Text

34

43

9

---

Long Text with the Chieftan

97

133

36

Includes Delivery Bag Text

Meeting Medli and getting Father's Letter

13

19

6

---

Talking with Komali

12

12

0

---

Talking with Medli before you Throw Her

30

60

30

---

Talking with Medli after you Throw Her

24

36

12

Includes bottle text.

Talking with Medli after you free her from the Cell

28

43

15

Includes Grappling Hook text.

Din's Pearl CS

119

131

12

From entering warp to regaining control.
There might be some NG vs. NG+ differences here, because Valoo in NG (used for timing JPN) speaks normally he speaks Hylian in NG+ (used for timing English).

KoRL text after Din's Pearl

5

8

3

---

Meeting the Deku Tree

121

167

46

Since Deku Tree speaks Hylian, there might be another NG vs. NG+ difference.

Deku Leaf Text

12

17

5

---

Boomerang Text

11

17

6

From opening chest to regaining control.

Fairy Text

5

10

5

---

Makar Text Before Warp

38

46

8

---

Farore's Pearl Text

124

143

19

---

Triforce Charts

87

96

9

You collect 7 in chests, 1 on ocean floor.

Greatfish Isle Text

72

113

41

From losing control to regaining it.

KoRL Text at Greatfish

8

14

6

---

Bomb Differences

Bombs behave a little bit differently between game versions. On the Japanese/NTSC-J version hitting the button you have bombs equipped to while holding a bomb will make Link place the bomb down as if you hit R. On the English/NTSC-U version (and European/PAL?) of the game the button you have bombs equipped to will cause Link to throw a bomb as if you hit A. On the Japanese version you can not equip and unequip Iron Boots while holding a bomb. On the English and European versions you can.

Item Locations

Also important to recognize in TWW is that the placement of some treasure chests is different in Japanese than in English. This commonly involves moving heart pieces to different locations and replacing the contents of the chests that contained heart pieces on the English version with rupees. Additionally, the denominations of some rupees located in pots, etc. have also been changed:

Heart piece 44 (located at the end of the Savage Labyrinth on U) is moved to the chest underneath Grandma's house on JPN (whereas this chest contains an orange rupee on U), thereby replacing the heart piece at the end of the Savage Labyrinth with a yellow rupee.

Heart piece 32 (which you get from Sam after decorating Windfall with 14 trade items on U) is replaced with a gift of 100 rupees. On JPN, this heart piece is move to one of the small islands around Forest Haven (where treasure chart 3 is on U).

Heart piece 39 (which is in the translucent treasure chest revealed by lighting the Windfall lighthouse on U) is moved to the center of Horseshoe Island on JPN (where treasure chart 28 is on U).

The pot that can be revealed by using a Tingle Bomb contains a red rupee on JPN instead of the orange rupee on U.

Triforce Chart 5 is no longer obtained from sinking the golden ship of the shore of Needle Rock on JPN (see below for details).

Triforce Chart 5

As mentioned above, Triforce Chart 5 is no longer obtained from the Golden Ship at Needle Rock on Japanese. Instead you pull up Treasure Chart 16, which sends you:

To Shark Island where you get Treasure Chart 28

Then to Needle Rock where you get Treasure Chart 3

Then to Eastern Fairy Island where you get Treasure Chart 40

And finally, to Headstone where you get Triforce Chart 5

This required moving the locations of these treasure charts from there locations on U, on which:

16 is at Seven-Star Isle on a watch tower after killing all the Wizzrobes (replaced with chests containing a red rupee, golden feather, and a deku baba seed on JPN).

28 is at the center of Horseshoe Island.

3 is at one of the small islands around Forest Haven.

40 is at Southern Fairy Island on a watch tower after destroying all the cannons on the platforms (replaced by a gold feather on JPN).

Gossip Stone Text Skip in FF1

In the Japanese version, the trigger for the Gossip Stone cutscene in Forsaken Fortress 1 is much smaller, allowing you to simply sidehop over it. A different skip must be performed in order to skip the Gossip Stone on the English version. For more information, go here.

Getting on Railing Behind Hyrule Castle

The invisible walls above the railing are much shorter on the Japanese version, allowing you to simply sidehop and leaf in order to get on the railing. This allows you to Skip the Barrier Breaking cutscene. It is still possible to get on the railing on the English version; however, it is much more difficult and would not save time in a speedrun.